---
title: "The seven GA4 setups we fix on every new client"
url: "https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/"
canonical_url: "https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/"
markdown_url: "https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes.md"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2025-11-28"
type: "article"
summary: "GA4 is fine. Most GA4 installations are not. The seven specific things we change in week one, every time."
---

# The seven GA4 setups we fix on every new client

Source: https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/

Analytics · 10 min read · Nov 28, 2025

GA4 is fine. Most GA4 installations are not. The seven specific things we change in week one, every time.

Written by Philipp Enders Fact-checked Nov 28, 2025 Updated quarterly

Google Analytics 4 has been around for years now and most setups still get the same handful of things wrong. Here are the seven we fix on every new client.

## Cross-domain tracking

If your site spans multiple domains (e.g. main site + booking subsystem), 70% of GA4 installations break cross-domain tracking. The fix is two settings in admin — but it is critical for accurate attribution.

## Internal traffic filters

Your team browsing the site should not count as conversions. Set up internal traffic filters using IP-based or DEFINE-INTERNAL-TRAFFIC settings. Yes, it requires configuring your office IPs. Do it anyway.

## Custom events for what actually matters

The default events GA4 fires (page\_view, scroll, file\_download) miss the events that actually matter for your business. Set up custom events for: form starts, form completions, video plays, search queries, add-to-cart, checkout steps. Use Google Tag Manager.

## Conversion definitions

Mark only the events that genuinely indicate business value as conversions. “Pageview of contact page” is not a conversion. “Submitted contact form” is. Loose conversion definitions corrupt every downstream report.

## Channel grouping

GA4 default channel grouping lumps things badly. Set up a Custom Channel Group that matches how you actually think about your channels.

## Audience definitions

Build remarketing audiences in GA4 for the cohorts that matter — cart abandoners, blog readers, lead form starters. These can be shared to Google Ads automatically.

## Data retention

GA4 defaults to 2 months of event-level data retention. Change it to 14 months in admin. You will thank yourself in a year.

Related: our [analytics & tracking service](https://pmax.online/services/analytics/) — and [the full tracking setup guide](https://pmax.online/blog/tracking-setup-guide/) .

## Need help with this?

If any of the above feels like a problem you have, [tell us a bit about your situation](https://pmax.online/contact/?topic=ga4-mistakes) and we will come back within a working day. First conversation is 30 minutes, on us.

Related from pmax

[Analytics & tracking →](https://pmax.online/services/analytics/) [Client results →](https://pmax.online/cases/)

On this page

[Cross-domain tracking](https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/#) [Internal traffic filters](https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/#) [Custom events for what actually matters](https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/#) [Conversion definitions](https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/#) [Channel grouping](https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/#) [Audience definitions](https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/#) [Data retention](https://pmax.online/blog/ga4-mistakes/#)

More from pmax

[All services →](https://pmax.online/services/) [Client results →](https://pmax.online/cases/) [Work with us →](https://pmax.online/contact/)

PE

About the author

Philipp Enders

Philipp is the Founder and Director of pmax, a performance marketing and AI visibility agency in Calvià, Mallorca. He is also the co-founder of [crunchjunkie](https://crunchjunkie.io/) , an AI visibility tracking platform for monitoring brand citation across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini.

[LinkedIn →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippenders/)